The WSJ‘s Jess Bravin has an interesting article on a debate within Democratic circles over President Obama’s next Supreme Court pick. Democrats gearing up for a possible Supreme Court vacancy are divided over whether President Barack Obama should appoint a prominent liberal voice while their party still commands a large Senate majority, or go with […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Reid’s Reversal on Recess Appointments
The Politico reports: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used to consider recess appointments “an end run around the Senate and the Constitution” — so much so that he kept the chamber open during breaks to prevent President George W. Bush from making any more of them. But with a Democrat in the White House, and […]
U.S. Still Won’t Join International Criminal Court
Via Julian Ku at Opinio Juris comes news that the Obama Administration has no plans to submit the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the Senate for ratificaiton. Prof. Ku comments: This is not exactly a surprise, but it shows just how far the U.S. is from the Rome Statute. If President […]
Ryan’s Republican Alternative
When President Obama met with House Republican leaders he noted that Rep. Paul Ryan, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, had put forward a “serious proposal” for controlling federal spending and balancing the federal budget. Rep. Ryan has also supported an alternative approach to health care reform, the “Patients Choice Act.” Unlike some […]
Still More IPCC Errors
British news organizations are now combing through the IPCC reports, finding more errors and material sourced to non-peer-reviewed material, including student papers and reports by advocacy organizations. Most of these errors continue to relate to the more policy-oriented aspects of the IPCC reports — practical consequences of climate change and potential policy responses. This is […]
Sunday Song Lyric
The Who — or what’s left of them — will perform during halftime at the Super Bowl today. They’re easily one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Among the songs they will reportedly play is “Baba O’Riley,” a classic track from their classic album, Who’s Next. Here’s how the song begins: Out here […]
Senate Set to Confirm Schroeder
It looks as if the Senate will finally confirm Duke Law School professor Christopher Schroeder to head the Office of Legal Policy in the Department of Justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination for the second time yesterday with substantial Republican support. The Committee vote was 16-3, and both Senators Sessions and Hatch voiced […]
Shame on Shelby
Several news reports (summarized here) indicate that Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has placed a blanket hold on all executive nominations — some 70 or so in all — over two federal projects that he wants to see in Alabama. This is shameful. It is an abuse of the hold privilege and is precisely the sort […]
Two Supreme Court Vacancies?!?
ABC News is reporting the White House is preparing for the possibility of two Supreme Court vacancies, as both Justice Stevens and Justice Ginsburg could step down. If so, this could help explain the Adminsitration’s tardiness in making other judicial nominations.
Tribe: Climate Cases Are Political Questions
The Washington Legal Foundation has just released an interesting paper by Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, co-authored with HLS student Joshua D. Branson and Shook, Hardy & Bacon attorney Tristan L. Duncan, arguing that public nuisance lawsuits against utilities for their alleged contributions to climate change should be considered non-justiciable political questions. They write: global […]
Are Trial Lawyers Buying Government Clients?
The WSJ has an interesting report on the alleged connection between plaintiff attorney contributions to local politicians and lucrative representation of public pension funds in shareholder litigation. A Wall Street Journal analysis documented the extent of campaign giving by plaintiffs’ law firms specializing in shareholder suits. It found that 25 leading firms, their lawyers and […]
Justice Thomas Defends Citizens United
The NYT reports on recent by remarks by Justice Clarence Thomas at the Stetson University College of Law in which he responded to criticism of the Court’s Citizens United ruling. In addition to defending the underlying rationale of the ruling, he also addressed the Tillman Act — the federal law barring corporate campaign contributions, which […]
Justice O’Connor’s Latest Opinion
This morning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion in Demings v. Nationwide Life Insurance, Co., affirming the dismissal of a proposed class action. Of note, the opinion was authored by Associate Justice (Ret.) Sandra Day O’Connor, sitting by designation. UPDATE: LAst August, Jess Bravin had this piece on Justice […]
Monbiot: Heads Must Roll at CRU
The Guardian‘s George Monbiot is again calling for resignations at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit. This is a tough time for climate science. The Guardian’s new revelations about the hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia might help to explain the university’s utter failure to […]
Lancet Retracts Vaccine-Autism Study
The Lancet, one of the premier medical journals, has retracted the controversial study purporting to link the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine to autism in children. The journal issued this statement: It has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al. are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an […]